Storage-battery system.



E. A. HALBLEIB.

STORAGE BATTERY SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 16 1013.

1,089,549, Patented Mar. 10, 1914.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD A, HALIBLEIB, OF ROCHESTER,

NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB. TO NORTH EAST ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEWYORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

STORAGE-BATTERY SYSTEH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Application fi led Ianuary 16, 1913 Serial No. 742,495.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD A. HALBLEIB, acitizen of the United States, and resident of Rochester, in the countyof Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Storage- Battery Systems, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to electric systems of the type in which astoragebattery is employed in connection with translatingdevices and anelectric-generator, the storage-battery being constantly connected withboth the translating-devices and the generator in such a manner as toalternatively receive and discharge'current, according to the yaryingdemands of the translating-devices and the varying out-put of thegenerator.

In s stemsof the type in question, particular y as employed inconnection with portable a aratus carried by automobiles or other veicles, it is common to actuate the generator by connection with theengine or otherfmovable part of the vehicle, so that the out-put of thegenerator varies widely with the speed of the vehicle. In apparatus soemployed, in order that 'thenecessity for complicated regulating.apparatus for the generator may be avoided, and also in order to providea constant supply of current for the translating devices even when thevehicle is at rest and the generator is out of operation, it has beencommon to employ a storage-battery which is connected with the otherparts of the apparatus in a manner commonly described as floating thebattery. upon the line. That is to say, the terminals of the battery areconnected in parallel with the generatorterminals and with theload-conductors through which the translating-devices are fed. In thisarrangement either or both the generator and the battery are adapted tosupply current to the translating-devices, according to varyingconditions. For example, when the generator is operating at hig speed,so as to provide a current, at high electromotive force, greater thanthat required by the translating-devices, or when thetranslating-devices are rtially or wholly disconnected, from thecad-conductors and thrown out of operation, the current from thegenerator. passes partly or wholly through the storage-battery, thusmatically assumes a part of the load and discharges current through theload-conductors and the translating-devices, so as automatically tomaintain the voltage of the load-circuit.

In addition to the functions just described, the battery operateseffectively and automatically as a safety-device to prevent thesubjection of the translating-devices to an excessive voltage. Howeverfast the gen- 1 erator may operate, any tendency to produce an excessivevoltage in the load-circuit is guarded against by the fact .that a partof the current so produced may flow throu h the battery in a directionto charge it, t e amount so flowing varying with the output of thegenerator and the consum tion in the load-circuit, and consequently,ongcontinued excessive speed in the generator can result-in nothi moreserious than overcharging and gassmg. in the battery.

The protectiveaction of the battery, just. described, necessarilyinvolves the connection of the battery in parallel with the other partsof the apparatus. In systems of the type in .question as commonlyarranged, however, there is danger of the accidental occurrence ofbreaks, in the electrical connections, by which the battery may be;disconnected from the generator andthe loadcircuit while these portionsof the apparatus still remain connected with each other. In such a caseit is possible for an excessive electromotive force to be impressed uponthe load-conductors, which may have the efiect of injuring or destroyingthe translating-devices. Where these latter are electric-lights, forinstance, they may thus be burned out, and this may occur without any-warning, to the user of the apparatus, that I are usually made byconnecting the generator-terminals and the load-conductors diproducedeither where the conductorscom;

necting the generator and the translatingdevices are connected bybranch-wires with the battery terminals, or where a single binding-post.on the battery-terminal is employed to secure the ends of conductors eX-tendiug, respectively, from a generator-terminal and one side of theload-circuit. In either case it is possible, by a failure of theconnection with the battery-terminal, for the generator and theload-conductors to remain connected together, with the results abovedescribed.

The object of the present invention is to provide a storage-batterysysten'i, of the type in question, with connections so constructed andarranged that it is practically impossible for the battery to becomedisconnected from the other parts of the apparatus without theoccurrence, at the same time, of a break in the connections between thegenerator and the translatingdevices. To this end I propose to connecteach generator-terminal and the corresponding load-conductor with abattery-terminal, but to form these connections at separate points, sothat there is no direct connection between the generator-terminal andthe load-conductor, these parts being electrically connected through theinterposed battery terminal. Accordingly, any break in the connectionsmust involve the disconnection of the generator-terminal and thecorresponding loadconductor, as Well as the disconnection of the batteryfrom one or both of these parts.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a plan-view of a portion of astorage-battery. as employed in an electric system arranged inaccordance with the present invention. showing particularly theconnections between one of the battery-terminals and the otherconductors of the system; Fig. 2 is a similar view, showing a modifiedform of the invention; Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 in Fig.1; Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 44 in Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is adiagram of the electrical connections of a storage-battery systemembodying the present invention.

Referring to the diagram, Fig. 5, the gen erator 6, which may be of theordinary compound-wound type, is connected, by wires 7 and 8, with theload-conductors or wires 9 and 10 across which translating-devices, suchas electric-lamps 11, are connected in parallel. The storage-battery 12is also connected in parallel with the generator. In the conductor 7 isintroduced a reverse-current cutout 13, which may be of any ordinary orsuitable form, and which operates in a well known manner to prevent theflow of current in a reverse direction from the battery through thegenerator.

As shown diagrammatically in 'Fig. 5, one of the battery-terminals 14 isprovided with two branches, to which the conductors 7 and only 9 areindependently connected at separate points, and these conductors are notconnected directly together, the terminal 1 1 constituting their solemeans of electrical intercommunication. The other battery-terminal 15 issimilarly connected with the conductors 8 and 10.

Two specific constructions are illustrated, in Figs. 1 to 4, forinterconnecting the battery-terminals and the other conductors of thesystem. In Figs. 1 and 3 a single terminal-projection 1 1 extends fromthe grids or plates 18 of the battery, this terminal-projection beingformed substantially integral with these grids in any ordinary orsuitable manner, as, for example, by casting or sweating it on across-bar 17, also integrally united with the grids 18. At its upper endthe terminal-projection 11 is provided with two branches 15 and 16,which are perforated to receive the ends of the conductors 7 and 9, andthese conductors may be secured in place by soldering or in any otherconvenient manner.

It will be apparent that with the construction illustrated in Figs. 1and 3, if either or both of the conductors 7 and 9 should break loose,or become disconnected from the battery-terminal, this would result notonly in disconnecting the battery from either the generator or thetranslating-devices, or from both but also in disconnectin the generatorfrom the load-conductor and the translating-devices. Accordingly, anysuch break in the connections would cause the translating-devices to. bedeenergized, thus warning the operator of the break without subjectingthe translating-devices to any dangerous flow of current.

Owing to the substantial character and integral construction of thebattery-terminal 14: no break in this part is liable to occur, and thearrangement illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 constitutes therefore apractical and satisfactory embodiment of the invention. If it bedesired, however, to more completely isolate the conductors 7 and 9 fromdirect inter-connection, the construction shown in Figs. 2 and 4 may beemployed. In this construction the cross-bar 17 on the grids 18 isprovided with two entirely separate terminal-projections 19 and 20, towhich the conductors 7 and 9 are connected, respectively, in anyconvenient manner, as, for eX- ample, by binding'posts 21 and 22. Incase either conductor becomes accidentally detached from thecorresponding binding-post, or in case either binding-post becomesdetached from the corresponding terminalprojection, the conductors 7 and9 are thereby electrically disconnected from each other, with theresults above pointed out.

I claim 1. A'storage-battery system comprising an electric generator,translating-devices, load conductors connected with thetranslatlng-devices, generator-conductors connected -with the generator,and a storage-battery are isolated from each other and are con necteddirectly to the terminal-projection at separate points, so that they mayhave no direct connection with each other in case either of saidconductors becomes disconnected from the terminal-projection.

2. An electric system comprising an electric generator,-translating-devices, load-conductors connected with thetranslating-devices, generator-conductors connected with the generator,and a storage-battery having grids provided with integralterminal-projections, in which system the respective loadconductors andgenerator-conductors are connected with the respectiveterminal-projections of the battery so as to float the battery on theline; said system being characterized by the fact that each of saidterminal-projections has two branches, and that the respectiveload-conductor and generatorconductor are isolated from each other andare connected directly to said branches, respectively, so that they mayhave no direct connection with each other in case either ofsaidconductors becomes disconnected from the terminal-projection.

EDWARD A. HALBLEIB. Witnesses:

D. GURNEE, C. W. CARROLL.

